I just heard there were 5 engine failures in the last 4 weeks. Can anyone confirm this?

 

IF grandma had balls....

 

It's something very close to that, if not that exactly. I'm not sure if they were failures or if they were preemptive (it's going to fail soon anyway) shutdowns. On one of the other G4 threads, someone had links to the news articles. Aside from those, there was another one (eng shut down due to loss of oil pressure) a couple of days ago coming out of LAS.

 

tsquare, I have no dog in this fight I'm not on either side. But your comment came across as the clueless Delta guy who forgot (or never knew) what it's really like at the levels below.

 

Technically with the shut down out of LAS the other day, that'd be 6 in 4 weeks. So far I believe I've been able to confirm them all (one not 100% sure on though).

 

I've got a buddy who's been there for some time. It's even worse than the OP says it is. I worked at a crappy 135 carrier. This place reminds me of that only it's much, much worse. I literally can't believe the stories I've heard, but they are too crazy not to be true, nobody could make that up. My heart goes out to you guys. If it weren't for the amazingly inflated stock price, the Feds would shut it down like they did to Great American years ago. Arrested a few people then as I recall too. Well, I hope nothing worse than crappy stories comes out of all of it. Be careful.

 

Research ValuJet a bit. The parallels between the two operations are terrifying.....

 

A Dec NH recently retired out of G4 because of the jerking around of bases and non-commutable schedules. He was a high-timer from a defunct cargo carrier and fortunately had enough $$ in the retirement account to tell AAY where to go.

 

Wikipedia's take on ValueJet

The airline went public in June, 1994 after a year of tremendous growth with the addition of 15 aircraft since the first flight in 1993. They became the fastest airline to make a profit in the history of American aviation, earning US$21 million in 1994 alone. In October 1995, ValuJet placed an order with McDonnell Douglas for 50 MD-95 jets (now known as the Boeing 717) with an option for 50 more. To keep costs low, the airline bought many used aircraft from around the world. At the time ValuJet's fleet was among the oldest in the United States, averaging 26 years. In 1995, the airline sued Delta Air Lines and TWA over landing slots.[4]
ValuJet took aggressive measures to hold down operating costs. Its employees were paid well below prevailing market costs. The airline did not own any hangars or spare parts inventories. ValuJet also required pilots to pay for their own training and only paid them after completed flights. It also gave flight attendants only bare-bones training. It also outsourced many functions other airlines handle themselves. For instance, it subcontracted maintenance to several companies, and these companies in turn subcontracted the work to other companies. Whenever delays were caused by mechanics, ValuJet cut the pay of the mechanics working on that plane. [5][6]
Safety problems

In August 1995, the Department of Defense (DoD) rejected ValuJet's bid to fly military personnel. In a scathing report, the DoD cited serious deficiencies in ValuJet's quality assurance procedures.[5]
The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Atlanta field office sent a memo on February 14, 1996, to Washington, D.C., stating that "consideration should be given to an immediate FAR-121 re-certification of this airline" - in other words, the FAA wanted ValuJet grounded. ValuJet airplanes made 15 emergency landings in 1994, 57 in 1995, and 57 from January through May 1996. In February the FAA ordered ValuJet to seek approval before adding any new aircraft or cities to their network, something the industry had not seen since deregulation in 1979. This attempt at removing ValuJet's certification was "lost in the maze at FAA" according to NTSB Chairman Jim Hall.[7] By this time, ValuJet's accident rate was not only one of the highest in the low-fare sector, but was more than 14 times that of the legacy airlines.[5]

 

The reason for the post is simply to warn prospective applicants of what to expect if they come to Allegiant. Our company is willing to staff its cockpits with virtual street captains in order to fulfill it's goal of extreme flexibility. This prospect will undoubtedly draw a lot of interest and applicants should be made aware of the reasons that our senior first officers are declining the upgrade.

Yes, many of our pilots are looking elsewhere (if not most), but it takes time. Many are leaving and the exodus is accelerating. Thankfully, even those that are leaving are still fighting the fight, not only for the sake of allegiant pilots, but for our profession as a whole. These guys realize this battle is much bigger than us and they must take a stand to avoid this sludge washing up on the doorstep of their next gig.

Instead of bickering, pilots of this profession should be thanking these guys, supporting them as they fight the same race-to-the-bottom that others have fought before them. We are in this together against the never ending litany of a$$-clowns looking to change our profession because "they are different".

Left to their own devices, these con-artists will continue lowering the bar, setting the 'new standard' for this profession. Watch out then as other CEOs will look to emulate these Wall Street Cinderellas and their cost-gutting tactics. They can't help themselves.